Paddle Your Best – More Than Just a Slogan

Interview by Chris Laughlin with Daryl Remmler of Think Kayaks

How did you first get involved in paddlesports? Did you have an early influence that turned you on to paddling, kayaking in particular?

Daryl: My Dad immigrated from Finland after WWII, and he had a passion for paddling that he brought along with him. Many years later, around 1970, our family joined the Ontario Voyagers Kanu Club, and we pretty much spent every summer weekend out on kayak trips with the club.

What led you to competitive paddling, and where did it take you?

Daryl: Ontario had a very active racing scene in the 70’s and 80’s. There were always slalom, downriver, or marathon canoe races going on. My entire family was racing at these events at a very recreational level. It was a lot of fun to be involved and participate. There was no expectation to win. Only to have fun, and do your best. Then in the mid-80’s I moved to Vancouver, and started paddling and training with a more serious group of paddlers. That lead to making the National Team in ’89 and ’91, and racing at a couple of World Champs.

How were you introduced to surfski? Clearly you took to it! What aspects of surfski most appealed to you and got you hooked to this style of paddling?

Daryl: The Vancouver paddling crowd also spent quite a bit of time in sea kayaks, and of course if you can paddle it, you can race it! The Sea Kayak race on the West Coast, was the Alcatraz race, out of Sausalito, CA. I traveled down for the race a few times in the early 90’s, and on one of those trips there was a long skinny sit-on-top type boat for sale. I had never seen or heard of a surfski at that point, but it definitely spoke to me, so it made the trip back home to Vancouver. It was crazy heavy, a bit tippy, and not too fast, but I was hooked.

What inspired you to take your passion for paddling to the next level, and venture into the manufacturing world, designing and building your own line of surfskis?

Daryl: For the next dozen years or so I owned many skis (Shearwater, Valhalla, Futura, Fenn, Speedster, Huki, Epic, etc), and paddling was my full-time hobby. I had finished university, and was working in the outdoor gear trade, including some design and sourcing projects. The cumulative set of experiences were a very good background for the creation of Think Kayak, and by then surfski paddling had become an obsession.

As you began to contemplate what you wanted your boats to be for Think Kayak, what was the initial vision you had that shaped your first Think design?

Daryl: When Think Kayak began, it was solely created with a vision of making a ski that was easier to paddle. In late 2006, when we developed the first Evo, there were many good competitive skis on the market. I myself was paddling the original V10L, which was a really great ski. But, there really wasn’t a fast intermediate ski on the market at that time. The V10 Sport had just come out, but the first edition of that boat was not very stable in my opinion. Locally, we had a lot of paddlers struggling on the Speedster (built by Current Designs), and our sport was going to lose these people if we didn’t start creating boats that were easier to paddle. In March 2007, the Think Evo was born!

So you started with an intermediate level boat, the Evo. How did this choice fit into the plan for Think Kayak, and how has it guided the product line through to today?

Daryl: To be honest, at the beginning there was no “plan”! It really was started with the idea of creating a product to meet what I saw as a need. It was the success of the Evo that lead to the need of a plan. I already had a couple of projects started (the Fit and the Legend), but I felt we needed a competitive ski at the front end of the races, in large part to help create awareness for the Evo. That was Spring 2009, and the original Uno was christened, with Sean Rice at the helm.

The slogan “Paddle Your Best” has been a part of the Think brand from the beginning; it seems to be more than just a slogan as it relates to the Think surfskis. What does “Paddle Your Best” mean to you, and how you approach your designs?

Daryl: The key word in the “Paddle Your Best” phrase is “Your”. Our sport is really about getting the best possible performance out of YOU. You are the engine in this craft, so you need to be able to perform at your optimum. That means creating a boat that matches you for the best possible ergonomics and comfort, along with matching your skill to the stability of the craft. If you can match the stability, ergonomics, and comfort, to the paddler, then you can Paddle Your Best!

Over the last decade, has your vision for Think evolved in any way?

Daryl: I don’t feel that things have really changed much. It’s still a simple passion for getting on the water in a fun way, with a minimum of fuss and complexity. And it can take you to some amazing places, both externally and internally. It’s an experience, and we want it to be the best every time.

You have an incredibly talented team of young athletes paddling for Think. It seems like a very tight-knit crew, a family even. What does “Team Think” mean to you?

Daryl: Wow! Yes, the Team!! They are family, and I’m lucky to have them with me. Everyone knows Sean, Teneale, Kenny, and Macca. And now Nacho has joined us too! These guys are the foundation of the Team, the rock! But there are so many family members to Team Think that are not the ones winning the big international races. It’s the paddlers, customers, dealers, suppliers, family, etc. It’s this larger “team” that motivates me every day. Without Team Think, I’m not sure how Think would manage 🙂

A huge shout out, Thank you!

As a designer and builder of surfskis, what have you learned about the sport while growing Think Kayak over the last ten years? What are the most rewarding moments for you?

Daryl: I think that maybe I’m beginning to understand the forward stroke. It really is complicated! Seriously, the main thing I’ve learned over the past decade is just how much our sport is filled with passionate people. The event organizers in particular stand out to me. My hat is off to these guys and gals who make it happen. They have brought us together, and moved our sport from fringe to mainstream!

Rewarding moments? There are way too many, which is a good thing 🙂